March 22, 2008

Click here to see video of the Petrakis Cup on ASun.TV

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The JU rowing teams tallied 10 medals, including six gold, while taking home Team and Men's Cup Trophies as the JU rowing teams competed at the 16th Annual Petrakis Cup on the St. John's River, Saturday morning at the Negaard Rowing Center.

The Dolphin men took home the Men's Cup against UCF after earning gold in the Varsity 8. The JU men also took home gold in the Second Varsity 8, the Novice 4, the Varsity 4 and the Lightweight 4. The men also garnered a silver medal in the Varsity 4.

The Dolphin women earned gold in the Novice 4, silver medals in the Varsity 8 and Varsity 4 and a bronze in the Novice 8. JU defeated UCF for the Team Cup by a margin of 55 to 52.

"It was great conditions today and we were glad to host UCF and Embry-Riddle," said JU director of rowing Jim Mitchell. "I would also like to thank John Petrakis for all of his help and time he spent putting on this event.

"As a team, it was nice to see us get faster after we have been working hard all week with our Spring Break Training. There is always room for improvement, so we are going to assess these races and find ways to get better."

The Men's Varsity 8 finished first with a time of 5:29.2, ahead of UCF (5:41.8). The Men's Novice 4 placed first with a mark of 6:42.0, ahead of UCF (6:49.7) and Embry-Riddle (7:08.0). The Men's Second Varsity 8 took first with a 6:30.6, ahead of UCF (6:55.9). The Men's Varsity 4 "A" placed first with a mark of 6:59.7 while the JU "B" squad finished second with a 7:05.0. The Men's Lightweight 4 rounded out the gold finishers with a 7:24.5, ahead of UCF (7:39.5).

The Women's Novice 4 "A" placed first with a time of 7:40.5, ahead of UCF "B" (7:50.0) and UCF "A" (7:58.3).

The Petrakis Cup has been hosted in honor of former JU alum and Dolphin Rowing benefactor John Petrakis (Class of 1973).

To catch video clips, the event is also available on a tape delay basis on ASun.TV through JUDolphins.com. You can register to view the archived event on http://asun.playonsports.tv/ju.